I UBRAIiY OF CONGRESS. I 



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f UNITED .STATES iiF AMElilCA. t 







THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY 



tefe^- 



IK 




THE SOUTHERN STATES, 



RELIGIOUSLY AND MORALLY CONSIDERED 



IN CONNECTION WITH 



OUR SECTIONAL TROUBLES, 



BY 



BRY^N TYSON 



0^ NORTH CAROLINA. 




WASHINGTON, D. C. 

H. IH^LKINHORN, PRINTER, D STREET, BETWEES 6tH AND 7tH. 



1863. 






THE mSTITUTIOI OF SLAYERY 



IN 



THE SOUTHERN STATES, 

RELIGIOUSLY AND MORALLY CONSIDERED 



IN CONNECTION WITH 



OUR SECTIONAL TROUBLES, 



BY 



BRY^N^ TYSON 

OF NORTH CAROLINA. 




WASHINGTON, D. C. 

POLKINHORX, PRINTER, D STREET, BETWEEN Gth AND 7tH. 
1863. 



^3 



THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY 

IN THE 

SOUTHERlSr STA.TES 



I© IT RIOELT OR IM IT WliOIVCJ 



But few subjects have been discussed with more interest. 
and, perhaps, none upon which greater diversity of opinion 
prevails/ than the institution of slavery in the Southern 
States: Some argue that the institution is just and lawful, 
having been instituted under a Theocracy ; others that it is 
unjust, inhumane, and ought to be abolished. One or the 
other of these positions is right and the contrary is wrong. 
God is on one side or the other of the question, and is op 
posed to the opposite. 

It is now my purpose to inquire impartially into this mat- 
ter in order, if possible, to determine which side of the ques- 
tion God and justice is on ; and should we be so fortunate as 
to find a solution for the problem, it would then be an easy 
matter to determine which way the question should be de- 
cided. 

It ma}^, perhaps, be said that this is not a proper time to 
discuss this question, but I think never a better. T think a 
question that has caused so much trouble and distress as this 
should be discussed, and discussed freely, with an honest 
search after truth, rather than for the mastery, in order that 
it may be determined and settled in accordance with the 
word and justice of God, and settled forever. After our 
present troubles shall have been ended I hope our country 
will never again be agitated by this most distressing ques- 
tion. 



I will first take the affirmative side of the question, and show 
wherein it would be best for the servants to remain as they 
are. Then the negative, or arguments in favor of emanci- 
pation. And will then, in conclusion, compare the two to- 
gether. 

Whether or not slavery be right, certain it is that it has 
existed in all ages from the days of Noah, when a curse was 
laid upon Canaan, down to the present time. This, I pre- 
sume, is a conceded fact, and I will, therefore, consume no 
time in proving this point, it being my object to prove the 
justness or unjustness of the institution, rather than to prove 
that it has existed for a long or short period of time. 

According to my knowledge of the Old and New Testa 
ments, being an earthly servant here does not appear to be 
a matter of so very great importance if so be that we are so 
fortunate as to gain eternal life in the world to come. 

We find the word servant mentioned in the Scriptures 
some four hundred and thirty -five times. This word, how- 
ever, has different meanings according to the sense in which 
it is used, but I will mention only a few of these texts, such 
as are calculated to elucidate the subject under considera- 
tion ; by far the greater portion having no bearing upon the 
subject whatever. 

We find the word servant mentioned in at least twelve 
places as pertaining to those that were held to involuntary 
service or labor. The first place that the word servant is 
mentioned in the Bible is, I believe, at Genesis, IX, 25, 
where Noah, awaking from his wine, lays a curse upon 
Canaan, saying : " cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants 
sliall lie be unto his brethren." Soon after this we find by 
comi)aring (Icncsis 10, 2, with Ezekiel 27, 13, that Javan, 
Tubal and Mcshcch were trading among them upon the per- 
sons of men as merchandise. If this had been wrong it is 
reasonable to suppose that the practice would have been con- 
demned by the good men of that day. But we do not find 



it thus condemned. The curse having been pronounced of 
Noah by inspiration, this was very probably a means devis- 
ed for carrying it into effect. The sentence '' a servant of 
servants he should be unto his brethren" was irrevocable 
and was bound to go into effect, let the private opinions of 
the people of that day have been what they might. It should 
therefore be the duty of the people 'in all ages to obey the 
commands of God, and perform the duties assigned them, 
rather than to cavil at his decrees, for it is evident that God 
wdio made the world can best govern it, and He may also, 
perhaps, have some object in view not known to us. There- 
fore we should submit to His commands and decrees. If we 
would always do this we would be apt to do well enough — 
better, perhaps, than many of us do. 

I can notice but one or two other texts. We will first 
look at 1 Peter, 2, 18, 21: 

^' Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear ; not 
only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 

For this is thank-worthy, if a man for conscience toward 
God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 

For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your 
faults, ye shall take it patiently ? but if, when ye do well, 
and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with 
God. 

For even hereunto were ye called : because Christ also 
suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow 
his steps." 

In the foregoing, servants were plainly commanded to be 
obedient to their masters, not only to the good and gentle, 
but also to the froward. And it is evident if a servant Avho 
suffers wrongfully and takes it patiently, thereby renders 
himself acceptable with God, that it should be the duty of 
the servant so treated to take it patiently in order that he 
may render himself acceptable with God. 

In the last verse it says: "For even hereunto wore ye 



6 

called : because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an ex- 
ample, that ye should follow his steps." Christ was scourged, 
mocked, spit upon and crucified, not for his sins, but for the 
sins of others, all of which he took patiently. Therefore, 
when a servant suffers wrongfully and takes it patiently, he 
is but following the example of his blessed Lord and Master. 

AVe will now look at 1 Timothy, 6 ; 1-10 : 

" Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their 
own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and 
His doctrine be not blasphemed. 

And they that have believing masters, let them not de- 
spise them, because they are brethren ; but rather do them 
service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of 
the benefit. These thino's teach and exhort. 

o 

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome 
words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the 
doctrine which is according to godliness ; 

He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions 
and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, 
evil surmisings. 

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute 
of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness : from such 
withdraw thyself. 

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain 
we can carry nothing out. 

And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. 

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, 
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men 
in destruction and perdition. 

For the love of money is the root of all evil : which while 
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and 
pierced themselves through with many sorroAvs." 

For lack of time and space, I will make no comment 
whatever on the above text, but will leave it for the reflect- 



ing reader to determine for himself, hoping he will give it a 
careful perusal. 

Many things take place in this world that may not appear 
just and right unto us, but at the same time, God may per- 
haps have some object in view not known to us. Thus, 
when Saul was commanded to go and smite the Amelekites, 
he was commanded to smite every man, woman and child. 
Even the innocent suckling that had of itself known no guile, 
was doomed to death. 

We are told in another place that God is a jealous God, 
visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children of the 
third and fourth generations of them that hate Him. Thus it 
seems we belong to God, and He hath a right to do as seem- 
eth well both with our lives and liberties also. This is ex- 
emplified in his works of the smaller creation. 

If we turn our attention to the beasts of the forest we be. 
hold the more ferocious and formidable preying upon the 
weaker and lesser. If we turn our attention to the fowls of 
the air we there behold certain species armed with formid- 
able talons, and supplied with carnivorous appetites, and 
every way fitted by nature for preying upon the weaker and 
lesser. And if we turn our attention to the fishes of the 
mighty deep we there behold the same thing. So in very 
nearly all of God's animate creation, except man, we behold 
the stronger species preying upon the weaker and lesser. 
These do not prey merely npon the liberties of the under 
species, but actually upon their lives, generally inflicting 
painful and excruciating deaths. So we find that the lives 
of one class are continually being offered up to support those 
of the stronger and more ferocious. Even so among 
men, so far as liberty is concerned, we find the superior, 
more intelligent and gifted by nature, preying upon the 
weaker and less intelligent, in reducing them to bondage, 
and compelling them to serve their superiors. This, no 
doubt, appears revolting'.to the feelings of any christian, hu- 



8 

mane man ; bat the institution of slavery lias now got a foot- 
hold among us. The people of tliis generation are b}^ no 
means responsible for this elass of people being rcdaced to 
bondage. Therefore it becometh our duty as philanthropists, 
to study their case, and do by them what is best under ex- 
isting circumstances, such as we would like to have done 
unto us under similar circumstances. I will treat of this 
more at length before I get through. 

But says one, the servitude spoken of in the Scriptures is 
applicable only to the Hebrews, the command having been 
given especially to them, and therefore we have no right to 
hold servants under that command unless we can establish 
that we are of Hebrew descent. I will acknowledge that 
there is some feasibility in this argument ; and not wishing 
to lay any burden upon these people, not even so large as 
my little finger, I will not argue the question au}^ farther in 
that light, nor will I take any advantage of the curse laid 
upon Canaan, but will proceed to argue it solely in a moral 
point of view, being not only willing but anxious that the 
question may be decided according to the best interests of 
the servants, be it which way it may. Because, admitting 
that the Scriptures Avould permit us to hold or own servants, 
tliere is no law nor obligation that I know of that would 
compel or bind us as our duty to hold them. And believ- 
ing it to be unjust that one part of the human race should 
be deprived of their liberty and happiness in order to in- 
crease the happiness of another class, I think the interests of 
servants should be consulted exclusively in this matter, and 
let them be emancipated or remain as they are, according as 
their interests require. I will now proceed to argue this 
question in a moral point of view. 

We will first look at this institution in a family where 
there are some thirty or forty servants. We find among 
them a good many women and children, and some old men 
and women who are not able to do rei^nilar field labor. So 



9 

out of tlie whole we will probably not get more than four- 
ninths who are regular Held hands. The ehildren play 
about at their sports — the white and blaek almost invaria- 
bly together, where there are ehildren of each kind on a 
place — until they reach a proper age to put to work, 
which is light at first, but, as they grow older, gradually as- 
sumes a heavier form until they get so that they can do any 
work that is done on the farm. Their labor is now of some 
value, and a part of it goes towards supporting the women and 
children and the old men and women who are now too old 
to labor. They thus continue to labor, and in the course of 
time declining years set in and they too cease to be any 
longer regular field hands. They are now assigned some 
light work, such as boiling food and feeding stock, looking 
after and training the children, &c. The young negroes 
that they helped to raise, now, in turn, labor to support them 
in their declining years. So it appears to be one continuous 
copartnership, as it were, they having all things common, 
like as is described in the fourth chapter of the Acts of the 
Apostles. The children, when they are too young to labor, 
likewise when they get to be too old, fare equally as well as 
when they were at a proper age to labor. Thus, of the three 
stages — youth, middle age, and old age — through which ser- 
vants pass, there is but one in which they are depended on 
as regular field hands. In old age they are taken good care 
of; and thus is the entire slave population rendered self- 
supporting. So, of the 8,953,760 that were in the United 
States in 1860, I don't suppose there was one of that num- 
ber supported by public tax. Such an instance, I pre- 
sume, is unknown among an equal number of industrial 
classes any where in the civilized world. If there has been 
any property accumulated from the labor of Ihe servant du- 
ring his younger days, that very same property stands 
pledged to take care of him in old age. I will ask where 
else on the face of the globe could you go to find, in a popu- 
lation of nearly four millions, no paupers? 



10 

TKEATMENT OF SEKVANTS. 

The servants at the South, for the most part, receive good 
treatment, as is evident from the census returns of 1860. 
During that year there were 3,000 servants manumitted, 
and 803 escaped to the North as fugitives, making a total 
loss to the slave population of 3,803. Taking this as the 
annual loss for the past decade, there would thus have been 
a loss to the slave population of 38,030. But, with this odds 
against them, the slave population at the South increased du- 
ring the decade ending in 1860, 23.39 per cent.; which is 
faster than any nation in Europe increased during the same 
period of time. The free blacks during the same period, 
after having been augmented by about 38,030, increased only 
12.33 per cent. 

I will here give the statistics of some of the principal 
northern cities. In the city of Boston, during the five years 
ending in 1859, the city register observes: '^ The number 
of colored births was one less than the number of marriages, 
and the deaths exceeded^ the marriages nearly in the pro- 
portion of two to one. In Philadelphia, during the last six 
months of the census year, the new city registration gives 
148 births against 306^]deaths among the free colored people. 
So we find that the slaves or servants of the South, notwith- 
standing they were subject to two considerable drains as 
aforesaid, increased nearly as fast again as their free breth- 
ren. From this we would infer that the better treatment 
was in favor of the bond servant. This, I think, is the effect 
oi' their working in societies or copartnership as already ex- 
plained. For thus situated, the women at times, when their 
health is delicate, are mot required to labor, being taken 
about as good care of as a member of the white family 
under similar circumstances. j 1 have known the owner, in 
cases where a large percentage of his servants were women 
and children, to have to^labor himself very hard, and 
always have his nose down to the grinstone in order to 



11 

raise these children, while they were running about, kicking 
up their heels, and seeing their pleasure. But they were 
willing to undergo this toil, with the hope that they would 
be able to pay for their raising some time. 

The servants at the South are not only, generally speak- 
ing, well treated, but becoming respect is also shown them in 
old age. The white children are even taught to call the elderly 
servants uncle or aunt, as the case may be. I was thus 
brought up myself, and it still appears natural for me to 
do so. 

Where servants are properly and well treated, I think they 
frequently fare better, and have more of the necessaries and 
comforts of life to go upon than many of the poorer class of 
white people ; and the reason of this is, they attend more 
systematically to business ; for while the voice of the former 
is heard loud and long at the tavern, or other places of 
amusement, these are attending to their daily avocations 
which furnish food and raiment for the body and employ- 
ment for the mind ; and being thus employed, they are kept 
out of mischief. 

I think the unexampled increase among the servants is 
owing to the society or copartnership in which they live, to- 
gether with the early age at which they generally marry. 
(I will speak of the mode presently.) In making matches, 
there are no questions of a worldly character to decide with 
them ; for their women are all like Lycurgus would have 
those of Sparta, all equal as to property. 

Among various laws that this learned sage introduced 
into Sparta was one that females should inherit no part of 
their father's estate, but that it should be equally divided 
among his sons. Being called upon to explain the object of 
this curious law he said, the young men in making matches 
would not then be picking and choosing after property, but 
would ffo for worth and merit. It also seems that some such 

o 

a law would have an excellent effect in this day and time in 



12 

encouraging early marriages and thus prevent the un- 
natural state of celibacy, with its many concurrent evils, for 
where people marry for wealth and character, they fre(_[uently 
kee}) picking and choosing after these until they pick 
through and get nobody. Therefore, under a discipline that 
would cause early and universal marriages, religion, morals, 
and school-houses would doubtless flourish. 

The servants generally live up to this rule ; for there be- 
ing no questions of a worldly character to decide with them, 
they go in solely for '^ love and beauty." The consequence 
is, there are bnt few or no cases of celibacy among them ; 
tliey have but few or no cares as to their rising fan:iilies, 
and in old age they are taken good care of. So, where they 
are properly and well treated, they arc, in my opinion, about 
the happiest people the sun shines on, 

EXJOYMENT OF SERVANTS. 

In order that the reader may have some idea of the man- 
ner in which servants enjoy themselves, I will relate the fol- 
lowing incident : 

The past summer, a year ago, I was at a friend's house in 
Chatham county, North Carolina, who owned a good many 
servants. It was in time of wheat harvest. About dusk the 
hands came in from their laborious work. It would seem 
iliat all mi gilt have been tired enough without seeking far- 
ther exercise in diversions, but not so. After supper the 
banjo was brought forth, and preparations made for a social 
dance. They soon struck up in high glee. I remarked to 
my friend that negroes saw a great deal of satisfaction and 
pleasure. Yes, said he, the most of any people in this 
world. He told me that wishing to finish a certain field of 
grain, they had labored very hard that day. But one would 
not have judged so from present appearances. When I 
went to bed they were in the midst of their glee, making 
the house fairly shake as their busy feet kept time to the 



13 

music. So in what position in life could they be more 
happy ? We should not form the iDclief because they have 
to labor that they are rendered unhappy ; for the Bible, T 
think says : '' The repose of the laboring man is sweet.'' 
They have to labor or their owners would soon be reduced to 
a condition such as to be unable to treat them well. Hence 
we may conclude if they be placed in a position where idle- 
ness would be encouraged, that their condition, instead of 
being bettered, would thereby be worsted. For, as the say- 
ing is, '' when idleness comes in at one door, want, with 
crime and its various attendants, come in at another." But 
servants, for the most part, live free from these evils, and are, 
therefore, a contented and happy people. 

FEEE NEGROES VOLUNTARILY ENSLAVE THEMSELVES. 

At all events, the felicity of the bond servant is such that 
I have actually known free persons of color to choose their 
masters and voluntarily enslave themselves. This may ap- 
pear very singular to us, but unless they expected to better 
their condition, it is still more strange that they should thus 
voluntarily give away their liberty. It is to be presumed 
that they considered the n-^ter well before entering into 
this engagement. But, inheriting by birth no wealth, and 
not being able to amass means sufficient, above the necessa- 
ry expenses of life, to purchase lands, horses, &c., and thus 
put themselves in a comfortable situation for living, it seems 
that, rather than weary thus with the burdens of life, and 
hire themselves from house to house, and be dependent 
on uncertain means, they had rather pick out some good, 
kind, humane man for a master, who was well supplied with 
all the necessaries and comforts of life, and who they know 
would treat them well, than to have their lil)crty and thus 
be taxed with the cares and concerns of life. After trying 
their new homes I never heard of any dissatisfaction on their 
part ; so it is to be presumed they were satisfied with the 
change. 



14 

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATIOX. 

To show tlie effect of emancipation on these people, I 
refer the reader to the history of Jamaica, Hayti and British 
Guiana, countries where emancipation has taken place. In 
these countries the negroes invariably ceased to work to 
much advantage after gaining their freedom. To prove this 
I will mention a few facts. 

In the year 1790 there was exported from the Island of 
Hayti 163,405,220 pounds sugar. After gaining their 
freedom the quantity began to diminish, and in forty-three 
years thereafter there was not a single pound exported 
from the Island, and the Queen Island of the seas was thus 
relinquished to barbarism, desolation, brutal licentiousness 
and crime, in every hideous form. I could multiply these 
instances, but, wishing to be brief, will let the above sufiice. 

It is said that bees when transported to the Island of 
Cnba soon cease to work and lay up honey, and divert them- 
selves by flying about the sugar mills and stinging the hands 
whilst at work. The reason that they thus cease to labor is 
that they can always get a sufficiency of the necessary food 
without being at that trouble. JJast experience has gener- 
ally proven this to be the case with the negro where he 
has been emancipated — he soon ceases to work to much 
advantage. 

THE NEGRO CAN LABOR WITH IMPUNITY A^^rOXG VARIOUS 
EPIDEMIC DISEASES. 

It seems the negro should not be entirely idle, because he 
is well adapted for laboring on the cotton, rice and sugar 
plantations of the South, and can labor with impunity among 
various epidemic diseases where the white man would soon 
sicken and die. To prove this I refer to the following : 

In the summer of 1855, during that awful scourge of yel- 
low fever in Norfolk, Va., there died in that city about 
3.000 persons. Of these tliere were but very few cases 



15 

among the blacks. I was there for a considerable time 
among the fever myself, and I know I heard it remarked 
that it took but little or no effect on the black population. 
So they seem to be well adapted for working on the cotton, 
rice and sugar plantations of the South, in which the l^orth, 
South, and various European countries are interested. In 
warm countries, where serpents and alligators abound, there 
the negro flourishes to greatest perfection. But remove him 
from this to a Northern clime and he soon shows unmistak- 
able signs of decay. It is therefore evident that his labor is 
particularly essential in rearing the tropical products, and ex- 
perience has taught, that to raise these successfully, he re- 
quires the aid and superveilance of the white man. 

ARGUMEKTS AGAINST SLAVERY. 

I will now notice the negative side of the question and 
proceed to give the arguments that are generally brought 
against the institution of slavery. 

Among the first and principal of these is the enhanced 
value of real estate in the Free States and the prevailing ig- 
norance among the poorer classes South when compared 
with their Northern brethren. "We will notice these argu- 
ments separately. In 1850 the average value of land in the 
Northeen States was, I believe, $28 07 per acre. In the 
Southern, $5 34 per acre. But is this high price in the 
one case and low in the other attributable solely to the in- 
stitution of slavery at the South ? I think not. I think it 
is mainly owing to the very dense population of the North- 
ern States and the more sparse or scattering of the Southern, 
together with the system of trade that has been carried on 
between the two sections. Thus, the people at the South 
have nearly forty- five acres of land per head, counting both 
black and white, great and small. The people at the North 
have less than twenty-one. So we should not wonder that 
lands are higher at the North, because scarcity always en- 



IB 

hances the value of an5^tliing. It should also be recollected 
that city propert}^, manufactories, &;c., are counted in the 
above estimate ; and the Northern States having larger cities 
and more manufactories than the Southern States, have 
greatly the advantage in this particular. 

If we compare the Northwestern with the Southwestern 
States we shall find the average value of land in the North- 
western to be $11 39 per acre ; in the Southwestern §6 26. 
So the lands of the Southwestern people are worth more per 
head tlian those of the Northwestern ; for what they lack in 
price they more than make up in the number of acres. 

But after all, is the enhanced or high price of land any ad- 
vantage to the generality of people ? I think not ; no more 
than the selling of corn at five dollars per bushel would be 
to the buyer. Where lands are cheap the poor can buy 
them and every man own his tract of land ; but placed at 
these enormously high prices, the rich alone can afibrd to be 
landholders. 

As regards the superior intelligence of the masses of the 
people North compared with the masses South, I think that 
is mainly attributable to the system of trade that has been 
carried on between the Northern and Southern States, to- 
gether with, perhaps, the better system with which schools 
liave been conducted in the Free States. It is said that the 
South, poor as she is, has annually poured into the lap of 
the North about $230,000,000 This amount of money ex- 
pended among the Northern people was calculated to make 
everything flourishing. Their manufixctured articles all 
commanding ready sales, they could, with the proceeds 
thereof, school their children and do almost anything else 
they desired, whilst at the South the people, banks, and 
»; very thing else were languishing under this murderous sys- 
tem of trade. Had the necessary manufactories been built 
u|. at the South, and these $230,000,000 been expended an- 
nu;illy among the ])oorer classes there, they too, I presume, 



If 

Would liave been able to educate their children, and busi- 
ness of every kind would soon have been in a thriving and 
prosperous condition. But after all, I am inclined to think 
that the superiority of the Northern people, in a literary 
point of view, compared with their Southern brethren, is not 
as great as has commonly been supposed. And as regards 
morals, I have it from reliable statistics that the religious 
persons South, according to population, exceed those North 
nearly in the proportion of two to one. So it seems what 
they lack in learning, if any, they make up in religion. 

A LARGE AMOlTNl' OF NORTHERN PROFITS DERIVED FROM 
SOUTHERN LABOR. 

Let the institution of slavery have been what it might, it is 
evident that the Northern people got the sum and substance of 
it, while the Southern people got the shadow. The tide of trade 
had got turned to the North to such a degree that articles of 
Southern manufacture would scarcely sell ; or at least the 
Northern was generally prefered as they were thought to be 
a little cheaper. Capitalists were, therefore afraid to invest 
thf^ir money in these enterprises, for it was evident without 
the benefit of the Southern trade they coukl not be sustained. 

1 will give an example of this. There were, in a certain 
small county in one of the Southern States, (Randolph, 
North Carolina,) five large and flourishing cotton manufac^ 
tories, all being upon the same water course. These facto- 
ries turned out large amounts of cloth and thread, but sup 
plying none but the home market, they soon became over- 
stocked with these goods, and in order to find sole for them, 
large quantities had to be sent to the Northern markets, 
principally New York, where they came in competition with 
the goods of Northern and various European manufacturers. 
Now, in order to find sale for these goods, they could not be 
offered at a price higher than the Northern and European 
could be bought at. But, the profits of the Southern manu- 



IS 

i'acturer being materially lessened by the expense of trans- 
portation, commissions; &c., wLat do you suppose was the 
consequence of this murderous system of trade ? Why, sev- 
eral of these manufacturing companies soon failed to meet 
their demands, and some of the stockholders, who not hap- 
pening to have a surplus of means, had to sell their stock at 
a reduced price in order to meet their demands. So^ witli 
this prospect of things before the Southern people, it is not 
to be wondered at that they were afraid to risk their capital 
in manufacturing enterprises. The institution of slavery can- 
not, I presume, be brought as an argument against the want 
of success of these factories, because they were all operated 
exclusively by white hands. Nor can it be said that the 
Southern people were not able to sustain them, for they had 
means in abundance to do this, but these were, generally 
speaking, sent North. Their failure, then, was simply owing 
to lack of home patronage. 

But soon after the Northern trade was broken up by our 
sectional troubles, these same goods advanced in value over 
500 per cent. Many of the manufacturing companies 
throughout the South doubled the wages to their hands and 
still made enormous profits. If this state of things had taken 
place in time of peace, these enhanced prices would have 
caused otlier manufLxctories to spring up, and thus, in time, 
these goods, through competition, would have been brought 
down sufTiciently low. Emploj'ment would then have been 
given U) our poorer classes, and under these circumstances 
all would have journeyed on ])rosperously and happily to- 
gether. I tliink we would then have been able to show our 
Northern brethren that the presence of a few niggers at the 
South could not keep us from manufacturing nor from doing 
a.nything else we wished to do. I desire to see the whole 
(country prosper, both the North and the South, and for this 
purpose T think they should trade together as far as such 
trading would be of mutual advantao-e to each other. But 



0]l 

•go 



i atn not in favoi* of tliia trade being carried to sucli an ex- 
tent as to enrich one section and impoverish the other^ and 
then lay all the fault to the existence of a certain instituti 
in one of the sections, while they themselves received a lar 
amount of their profits from this same institution. I will 
endeavor to make this a little plainer by giving a fablo that, 
very probably the reader is familiar with : 

THE ASS, THE LION AND THE COCK. 

Once upon a time there was a lion that espied an ass at a 
distance feeding, and having a mind to make his dinner off 
of her, he began to creep slowly toward the ass, with the 
intention of making her his prey. r>ut just before he should 
give the fatal spring tlic cock crew. The lion, having a 
great antipathy to the crowing of the cock, turned about and 
scampered away as ftist as possible. The ass, thinking that 
the lion was fleeing from her, turned and pursued after, and 
would every now and then feed him in the side with her 
heels. They kept on thus until the lion got the ass off' as 
far as he desired, when lie turned round and accomplished 
his first desire, which was to make his dinner oft" of her. 

Even so with the Northern people. Vast heaps of wealtli 
having concentrated in the Northern States, it has, I fear, 
caused our Northern brethren to become a little arrogant 
and presumptions, thinking it was their superior skill and 
shrewdness that has caused this great concentration o( 
wealth. But in very many instances the source of this sam*^ 
wealth is mainly attributable to the labor of Southern ser- 
vants, whom so many of our Northern brethren are now 
chasing with a desire of changing his social position. But 
even if they succeed, mind you if they too, in tlie end, like 
the ass, will not suffer most by it. 

If I had time and space I could trace tliis subject further 
and show that the panics that have been occurring in oui- 
money markets at the South, at intervals of a few years for 



20 

a good many years back, were rnainly attributable to tlie 
South overtrading with the North and the North over- 
trading with Europe; but I will leave this part of the sub- 
ject with the reflecting reader. 

A FEW QUESTIONS TO BE AXSWERED. 

I will here ask the emancipationists a question, and that 
is, if there be such an advantage in free labor over slave, 
why does not the people of England, Scotland, Ireland and 
other countries of Europe enjoy this to the same extent 
that the people of the Northern States have done ? This 
question can be easily answered. In the first place the Free 
States are not so densely populated as those countries ; and 
in the second place they have not had such a place to trade 
and draw their supplies from as the Northern States. But 
if the South would produce less of the raw material, and be- 
come to a certain extent a manufacturing people, mind 
you if the scale would not soon turn. Soon after the dis- 
covery of the cotton gin, cotton commanding very high 
prices, the Southern people became alive to producing the 
raw material. The climate of the North not being adapted 
to the growing of cotton, they erected the necessary manu- 
factories and became a manufacturing people. Their goods 
too commanding high prices, soon increased their capital- 
which enabled them to build more manufactories. The 
Northern people having got their manufactories in success- 
ful operation, it would now be impossible for manufactories 
to be built up at the South, without affording them some 
protection in their infancy. And all the protection they 
would require would be for the Southern people to patron- 
ize them, let the price be high or low. In time, competition 
would bring all things right, as has already been stated. 

The people of the Northern States boast of the rapidity" 
with wliich their new States have grown up. This is owing 
to the emigration from Europe and other countries. But 



21 

when these States shall have become as thickly settled as 
those European countries, in what particular will they pos- 
sess an advantage over the people of those countries ? I an- 
swer, in nothing, unless they have the benefit of the South- 
ern trade. 

NUMBER OF TERSOXS WHO ])0 NOT TREAT THEIR SERVANTS 
WELL COMPARATIVELY SMALL. 

Again, it is argued that servants are not properly and 
well treated ; that they are kept in the dark and sometimes 
ill-treated also. This is even so, and I desire to see improve- 
ment in both cases. 

As regards evil treatment I will admit that there are a 
few who do not treat their servants well, but the number is 
small in comparison with those who do treat them well. 
Would you then bring evil upon the whole race merely be- 
cause there are a few persons who do do not treat their ser- 
vants well ? The time never has been, and probably never 
will be, when, in a population of nearly four millions of peo- 
ple, whether they be bond oi* free, that there will not be some 
acts of violence committed on the weakly and inoffensive. 

But in order to remedy these defects, would you entail 
evil upon the whole race ? I think not. I will illustrate 
this by the following : 

Eailroads are known to be great conveniences ; but still 
accidents occasionally occur upon them which sometimes re- 
sult in death. Now in order to remedy these evils, you 
would not do away with the entire railroad system, would 
you ? No, I think not. I think you will readily admit that 
the good accomplished by them more than overbalances the 
evil. 

But suppose a servant is harshly treated ; that he has fallen 
into the hands of a hard taskmaster. In this case let him 
raise his petition to Christ, who is no respector of persons, 
and justice will eventually be done, I have thought if there 



22 

be an earthly temple lit for the Spirit of Christ to dwell in 
that it is a servant who is evily treated. God, in His infi- 
nite wisdom, did not intend that justice should be meted out 
in this world. If He had, there would be no need of a judg- 
ment in the next. Therefore, if the servant evily treated 
will raise his petition to Him who ruleth on high, it will, I 
think, in the end be of no disadvantage to him. The hard 
taskmaster will, in a coming day, stand at the bar of God, 
there to be judged according to the deeds done in the body, 
and there will be shown no respect of persons. 

SERVANTS SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO REAH. 

1 wish to do these people justice throughout, and I, therefore, 
desire that they should be sent to school, and at least taught 
to read, so as to be able to read the Scriptures. It has been 
thought b}^ some emancipationists that such a course would 
lead to enfranchisement. If it would, I am for it. The soul 
is evidently of more importance than the body, and should, 
therefore, be first cared for. I will remark, though, that the 
best servants I have ever known were such as could read, 
and were religious. It creates a moral worth in them. But 
still, should such a course lead to enfranchisement, I am for 
it as aforesaid. They would then be in a fit condition to 
take care of themselves. But turn them out in their present 
ignorant condition, and it is feared disastrous consequences 
would follow. 

:^.IARRIAGE A.MONG THE SERVANTS. 

It is also argued that the servants at the South live in 
open adultery, never having been legally married. 

In answer to ihis I wall say, that a great many are mar- 
ried after book form ; and they all, so far as my knowledge 
goes, have their choice in this matter, whether to be married 
after book form or cohabit under a vow. I will take oc- 
casion to state here that I believe the essential part of the 
marriage contract consists in a solemn vow between the par- 



23 

ties, and a faithful observance thereof. There being so many 
different forms of marriage among the various nations of 
the earth, it is hard to tell which is right. But I am in- 
clined to think that, where the parties cohabit under a sol- 
emn vow, and observe it faithfully, whether made privately or 
publicly, there is no adultery committed. So f^xr as my knowl- 
edge goes, the servants that cohabit under a vow are fully 
as faithful to their companions as those who are married af- 
ter book form, and in both cases they are generally true 
to their engagements. But still I am for granting the ser- 
vants their discretion in this matter, and let all that wish to 
be married after book form do so. Or if it be found more 
in accordance with the Word and justice of God that they 
should be married after book form, I am, if you please, in 
favor of that, and even of compelling all to be thus wedded. 
Cohabiting under a vow seems to have been peculiar to an- 
cient days : that of book form or public marriages to mod- 
ern. So much for marriage among the servants. 

AMALGAMATION. 

Another argument that is frequently brought against the 
institution of slavery is the amalgamation of the white and 
black races. It is true this is an evil. But, it is thought, this 
could be effectually prevented by passing a simple law 
in reference thereto; and that is, that all such issues 
born of white parents on one side, should, as soon as 
capable of taking care of themselves, or, at farthest, 
at the ■ age of twenty one years, go out free. In 
this case, as the owner of servants would not care to raise 
children who would be of but little or no profit to him, it is to 
be presumed means would be adopted such as would prevent 
an increase of this kind among his servants. New cases 
being thus prevented, the mixed races now on hand would 
soon become extinct through the largely superior number of 
pure blacks. As is now the case, amalgamation is most 



24 

prevalent in towns and cities ; but it is thought the above 
would, in a tew generations measurably wipe out the whole, 
and that the negroes would thenceforth be enabled to main- 
tain their original purity. 

SLAVEEY THE CAUSE OF THE WAK. 

Another argument that is brought against Slavery is, that 
il is the cause of the present war, and should therefore be 
abolished. I think in this case our duty as philanthropists, 
should be to study their case and place them in the position 
in which they would be most comfortable and happy, and 
then let the people of each section conform thereto. 

BUYING AND SELLING SERVANTS. 

Again : It is argued that servants should not be bought 
and sold, and thus parted from families and relatives. This 
does seem hard ; and unless some one else were more in favor 
of it than I am there would be but few bought and sold, 
I assure you. But the principle at last tends to transfer 
them from a poorer section to one more fertile and congenial; 
and I doubt not many changes have thus been made by 
which the condition of servants were bettered, which was 
nut apparent at the time. Thus, I am credibly informed, 
that in the Southern and Southwestern States a servant fre- 
([ucntly luidves for himself a bale of cotton in the time given 
him, which lie appropriates to his own private purposes. lu 
a less fertile section, probably in the one from whence he 
came, he could not do this. This age is one of emigration 
any way, and how often do we see members of a while fam- 
ily scattered into almost as many States as there are mem- 
bers ! 

As regards parting a nutn and wife, and small children 
from their parents, I am utterly opposed to that. I will 
remark, though, that in a sojourn at the South of over 
twenty years, I have known but very few cases where a man 
and wife were parted. There is a disposition among the 



25 

people to keep them together as much as possible. But I 
would be glad to see laws passed at the South to prohibit a 
ijian and wife from being separated under any and all cir- 
cumstances, and such is now the case in some of the States. 

FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. 

Another argument which is frequently brought against 
the institution of slavery — or rather against the rendition of 
fugitive slaveS; which in substance is the same thing — is 
found at Deut. xxiii, 15, 16: '^ Thou shalt not deliver unto 
his master his servant which has escaped from his master 
unto thee ; he shall dwell with thee, even among you in that 
place which he shall choose in one of the gates wdiere it 
liketh him best : thou shalt not oppress him." 

The above text is capable of a two-fold interpretation : 
First, that the Hebrews were the only people permitted to 
own servants. This is verified by their being commanded 
not to deliver up fugitive servants, they being supposed to 
have escaped from some of the heathen nations round about. 
Second, that, as they were commanded not to deliver up 
these servants, and at the same time were not commanded 
to interpose so as to keep their masters from recovering 
them, the text merely means non-interference or neutrality, 

I will illustrate this by the following : We will say your 
ox strays off and gets over on your neighbor's plantation. 
You miss him and go and search for him, and when you have 
found him, bring him home without, perhaps, your neighbor 
knowing that he had been there ; he does not deliver him to 
you. 

But if your ox go and get in your neighbor's corn, and 
he put him up in a stall and send you word, and w^hcn 
you come, he should then show and deliver him unto you, 
this might be called delivering. Even so in this case. 
You cannot deliver a servant unto his master unless you are 
instrumental in his recovery, Jt would seem, that a servant 



26 

escaping from his master and seeking refuge in a foreign 
land would "be apt to have some just cause for so doing. In 
this case it would now be very cruel in you to hunt down 
this servant and be instrumental in any way in again placing 
him in bondage under his former taskmaster. But if you 
remain still, and do nothing, neither the one way nor the 
other, then is the case very different'. 

It is also argued that the servants should be emancipated, 
and if the whites need their services let them hire them and 
pay them wages therefor. The probability is, if they were 
emancipated their labor could not be commanded, not even 
for money, or at least not regularly enough for farm pur- 
poses ; for experience has generally proven that where they 
have been emancipated they soon get to be like bees when 
transported to the Island of Cuba — soon cease to work to 
much advantage, as already stated. It is, therefore, to be 
presumed that both themselves and cotton fields would soon 
languish under immediate and thorough emancipation. It 
should also be borne in mind that the relations existing be- 
tween a master and his servant are quite different from those 
existing between the same person and a hired servant. In 
the one case he is considered and treated as a member of the 
family ; in the other, but little regard is manifested for him 
after receiving his wages, and he is able to obtain but few 
favors — only such as he can purchase with his money — 
which in many instances are fewer than those the bond ser- 
vant enjoys. 

I will here ask the question how much does the richest 
man in New York get for taking care of his riches ? I an- 
swer, only what he eats, drinks, and wears. *' But they that 
will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many 
foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction 
and perdition." Therefore, if thou hast food and raiment, 
therewith be content. 



27 

COMPARISON. 

I will now treat of this subject in comparison : 
In order to show the effect that religion, light, and the in- 
fluence that the white man has had on these people, 1 will 
give a brief biographical sketch of 

A NEGRO PREACHER. 

A good many years ago there resided in the county of 
Moore, North Carolina, a negro whose name was Kalph. lie 
professed religion early in life, and it was soon discovered 
that he had a gift for the ministry. By assiduous study he 
soon became learned and mighty in the Scriptures. The church 
to which he belonged, seeing that he was likely to be useful, 
contributed, bought, and gave him his freedom. Taking the 
name of his master, he was known thereafter as Ealph Free- 
man. He formed an acquaintance with a Baptist minister 
of the name of McUee. They soon became very intimate, 
and traveled and preached much together. At length they 
made an ao-reement that whoever died first the other should 
preach his funeral. Soon after this McGee removed to Ala- 
bama, where, after several years, he died, leaving his friend 
Ralph still surviving. In his will he left Ralph his horse, 
bridle and saddle, overcoat, Bible, and fifty dollars in money, 
and requested that he should be informed of his decease ; 
which was accordingly done, and, by agreement, a time set 
for the preaching of the funeral. A few weeks before the 
appointed time Ralph, now grey-headed and well stricken 
in 3^ears, set out on his long journey to fulfil the pledge that 
he had made with his white brother many years before. He 
reached his place of destination in due time. It being a 
novel thing that a colored preacher should come from North 
Carolina to Alabama to preach a funeral, a vast concourse 
of people assembled on the occasion. To use Ralpli^s own 
words, *' the whole land of Judea and region round about 
h^d come out to hear him," He said, the asseniblage of peo- 



28 

pie being so large, lie feared he would not be able to realize 
their expectations. But he said he had not preached far be- 
fore every bone in the old negro felt like preaching. His 
discourse was "well received/ and after services a collection 
was taken up, and $100 contributed for his benefit. Thus 
we see what effect light and religion has on these people. 

Contrast the above with the following, or negro at home, 
by M. Jules Gerard, which you may find in the Philadel]^hla 
Inquirer, of September 7th, 1863: 

THE KIXG OF DAHOMEY. 

The following letter has been received by the Duke of 
Wellington from the celebrated lion-hunter, M. Jules Gerard : 

'' Monsieur le Due — Your Olrace is well aware tliat few men gain by being 
seen close, unless they are men of intellect and merit. The King of Daho- 
mey, despite his cognomen, which signifies the ' Eternal, ' or the ' Infinite, ' 
fully justifies that rule, to which he is no exception. Physically he is 
similar to the other blacks of his country, tall, well built, a head like a 
bull dog. The most usual expression of his countenance is that of cunning 
and cruelty. His moral qualities are in perfect keeping with his physical 
conformation ; he is more gracious than the Kings who have preceded him, 
fanatical for old traditions and customs. The traditions of that microscopic 
court are to turn the whites to the best possible account (exploiter les blancs,) 
but especially to induce them to make presents. It is the custom to excite 
the people with sanguinary spectacles, so as to be able to carry off the 
neighboring population when a slave dealer makes an offer to the King, 
and also at the annual custom of human sacrifices. 

I have just spent twenty days at Karua, where the King was staying for 
tlie celebration of the lesser cej'emonies. On the day of my presentation I 
was conducted across the market place, where twelve corpses were ex- 
posed to view on separate sites. Six were hung up by the feet ; the six 
others were upright, like men about to walk. Those whom I saw close 
were horribly mutilated and not beheaded. An enormous pool of blood 
covered the ground beneath the scaffold, giving unmistakable evidence of 
previous sacrifices and of the tortures which accompanied them. Our re- 
ception by the king was brilliant, very cordial for myself as well as for the 
French Consul ; but we were soon able to convince ourselves that this was 
but a comedy always performed by this poor Paladin to get the presents 
brought by the whites. Born and brought up in the midst of these spec- 
tacles, which would be ridiculous if they were iiot horrible, the present 



2^ 

King is actually more fond of them than his subjects. I saw him on that 
day admiring with the delight of a child the grotesque dances and ridicu- 
lous pantomime of his ministers, and then of the princes, and then of all 
present, for our amusement. 

A most infernal music, which nearly deafened us, delighted the King, 
who seemed to he in a state of ecstacy, and this, M. le Due, lasted for six 
hours. On the following day his Majesty invited us to witness a proces- 
sion of the King's riches. On reaching the square of the Palace (red huts J 
an agreeable surprise had been j)repared for us. The entrance gate was 
flooded by a pool of blood two yards in width, and on each side a column 
of recently decapitated heads formed two immense chaplets. It is true 
that on this day the King wore the emblem of Christ on his breast. It 
must be presumed that it was the cross of execution that he meant to imply 
by this ornament. As regards the procession of his wealth, it consisted of 
a few old carriages, bath chairs carried by men with figures like Polichi- 
nello. One thousand women carried each a bottle of liquor on her head ; 
a brass basin in the shajje of a foot-bath to receive the blood of the human 
victims on the day of the King's banquet ; an image of the Virgin ^ vari- 
ous basketsfuU of human skulls ; an image of St. Lawrence, as large as? 
life, carried by blacks ; finally the drum of death. 

At another festival the King commanded on foot his Amazons, who 
manoeuvred with the precision of a flock of sheep. On the market place, 
already mentioned, each step was ornamented by a dead body ; and the 
King came and went in the midst of pools of blood and fragments of human 
flesh in a state of putrifaction. On this occasion he had daubed his face 
with coal. The ceremony terminated with a mad dance, in which the 
King took part, dancing vis-a-vis to drunken soldiers and musicians. Sucli 
are, M. le Due, the man, the Government and the people whom we have 
hitherto hoped to turn into a path less contrary to the laws of humanity. 
I regret that Captain Burton should have arrived at Kana just at the mo 
ment of the King's departure, as he might have becni enabled to see and J ii<lge 
of all these things. 

I am, M le Due, your most obedient servant, 

Jules Gerard. 

P. S. — On the day of his departure the King invited us to a review of hi-s 
army prepared for war. It was from 12,000 to 15,000 strong, comprising 
12,000 Amazons, 1,000 men of the body-guard, and 2,000 archers." 

We are informed that the Philistines, upon a certain occa- 
sion, became masters of the Ark of the Lord, but whilst it 
was in their possession they were sorely smitten, and could 
have no peace until the same was returned from whence it 
came. Even so with the servants. If their being gubordi- 



BO 

ilate to the whites were wrong it seems tliey should he re- 
turned to Africa from whence they came, even to the do- 
minions of King Dahomey. But who is it that says the 
condition of servants wouki be bettered by such a transpo- 
sition ? 

:\rORALITY OF THE FREE BLACKS AT THE NORTH AND 
SOUTHERN SERVANTS COMPARED. 

In 1850, while there was one colored convict in the pcni 
tentiary of Massachusetts for every 192 of her free colored 
population, there was only one in ever}^ 10,000 of the ser- 
vants at the South in prison. (I here select Massachusetts 
for a parallel, because the negroes there have enjoyed free- 
dom longer than those of any other State. In some of the 
other free States crime among the free blacks is even greater 
than among those of Massachusetts.) But, saj's one, they are 
governed and kept in their places by their masters, so that it 
is not often they are imprisoned, only for some heinous of- 
fence. This is even so ; and from it we would infer that 
some special government was needed for the free blacks 
North, in order to reduce the enormous amount of crime 
now existing among them to at least a respectable figure. 

In Massachusetts there is only 1 in every 109 of her popu- 
lation free negroes. So the proportion being so small, they 
do not make any great impression on Society. But suppose 
they all be emancipated at the South and remain among the 
whites, where in some of the States the number of negroes 
exceeds the whites, and that they in a few years should be- 
come thirteen times as immoral as the whites, what do you 
think would then be the condition of society there ? Consider 
the matter coolly and deliberately, my reader, and give me a 
calm, dispassionate answer. 

But, any person that has traveled at the South, and no- 
ticed things for himself, has doubtless observed that the ser- 
vants are, generally speaking, a very moral, contented, and 
happy people, and very many religious also. 



81 

l^ORMER AND PRESENT CONDITION OF EMANCIPATED 
SERVANTS COMPARED. 

I will now give the experience of some of tlie lately emiin- 
cipated servants : 

One of these, a negro man, told me in the streets of New- 
bern, that he was not as free now as he was before he came into 
the Federal lines. And also that he fared better particularly 
in sickness, for, said he, when I got sick I had some person 
to bring medicine out to me ; but it is not so now. 

I do not mention this in disparagement to tlie Federal 
authorities ; for I, doubt not, thej have taken as good 
care of these people as they could possibly do under 
existing circumstances. When we take into consideration 
the magnitude of our sectional troubles, and disturbed con- 
dition of the country, our great wonder is that they have 
been able to do as well by them as they have. 

ANOTHER CASE. 

A woman that formerly belonged to a gentleman who 
owned some three hundred of these people, said she fared 
better and was better contented before obtaining her free- 
dom than she had been since. This woman was a hired ser- 
vant at the house at which I boarded for several weeks 
whilst in ISTewbern. At length, the number of the lady's 
boarders not justifying her in keeping so many servants, 
she was dismissed, and without means and without employ- 
ment thrown upon the world to beat her way through life's 
uneven way as best she could. ''Without means and with- 
out employment" will, I fear, be a frequent cry raised by 
these people. 

ANOTHER CASE. 

I will now give the experience of an old colored person 
with whom I conversed, at the market-house, in this city, 
but a few davs ao-o. He said, a p-ood manv vears ago, his 



B2 

master, living in South Carolina; emancipated himself and 
family, consisting of his wife and seven children — four sons 
and three daughters — and gave them rnone}^ to bear 
their expenses to a free State. He said at first he 
hailed this change with much joy, as he expected to get 
aid from his children ; but tliey had all scattered off, his 
wife was now dead, and he was dependent on his own labor 
for support, and now, being very old, he was ill able to 
labor. I asked him which situation he would prefer, to be 
back with his master, or live the way he was now living? 
He said his master was a good and kind man, and if he was 
now back with him he would never consent to leave him 
again. Said he, I then had some time to rest, but I have 
none now. 

If we contrast the present condition of the servants in the 
cases just mentioned with their form.er condition, and take 
their own word as evidence, how does the matter stand ? 

I Avill her© remark that I have taken but little pains to in- 
form myself on this subject, having conversed with proba- 
bly not more than a lialf-dozen relative thereto, some of 
whom (1 recollect deSnitely but one) said the}^ were bettei- 
satisfied since obtaining their freedom than before. These 
were mostly young, hearty laborers who were then working 
at good wages. Whether this state of things will continue 
after the war shall have subsided, and business become stag- 
nant, and particularly after old age shall have set in, I am 
vmable to say. We will, though, take it for granted that 
what has proven true in ;i few cases will in very nearly all 
similarly situated. 

r will here ask the ([uestion, if these servnnts who liave 
tried both modes of living say they were better oft' and 
lived more comfortably in their former than latter condition. 
how is it that the emancipationists, who know but compar 
atively little of the institution of slavery any way, should 
know so much better what suits them best than the servants 
do themselves ? 



33 ^ 

THE CONDITION OF BOND SERVANTS AND FREE PERSONS 
OF COLOR AT THE SOUTH CONTRASTED. 

JSTear where I resided, in North Carolina, there lived a 
family of free negroes, which consisted of a man and his 
wife and one or two children, the remaining children hav- 
ing scattered off and left them. They had a very snug 
little tract of land, but in the course of time they be- 
came embarrassed and had to pawn their land for money. 
They are now old and well stricken in years and ill able to 
labor. So their creditor could, I presume, any time he saw 
proper to push his debt, have them turned out of doors. 
Here, then, would be two fit subjects for public charity, 
such as, I presume, you could not find among the whole 
population of servants at the South. (I call them servants 
because I hate the name slave. The word slave is a borrow- 
ed term and should not be used.) Contrast the condition of 
the members of this family with bond servants of a like age, 
where they are under the protection of a kind, humane man 
as a master, and where they have servants to labor for them 
in their declining years, and tell me which you think is most 
happy. 

The above family were the. only free persons of color that 
lived immediately in my section, so I cannot be accused of 
being partial in selecting a case. 

ANOTHER COMPARISON. 

Again — it is argued by some that liberty is an inherent 
right ; that we therefore have no right to deprive any peo- 
pie of their liberty, not even if their^ condition be bettered 
thereby. I will illustrate this by the following comparison, 
though simple, yet it will do to illustrate the point in ques- 
tion. 

All will doubtless admit that the horse fares better in a do- 
mestic state than he would in his natural, or wild state where 
he could roam about at pleasure. Now, if these domestic 
3 



animals were liberated and turned out to shift for themselves, 
they would soon become subject to great want and suffering^ 
and as a consequence, would pine away and die. Now, no 
person, I presume would argue, that for the sake of giving 
these brutes their liberty, this should be done. Even so with 
the negro. Though he does not need the fostering care of 
the white man to the same extent that the horse does, yet it 
is evident that he does to a certain degree, from the fact that 
he thrives better with it than without it. 

ANOTHER COMPARISON. 

The most menial services is, in many instances, the em- 
ployment of free persons of color. 

A few days back, as I was passing along E street, I heard 
a popping, banging and thrashing ahead of me, which I 
could not for my life conceive what it meant. Upon drawing 
nearer I discovered that it was a party of about a dozen ne- 
groes engaged dusting a carpet, each one with his stick lay- 
ing on lustily. Then it seems if they be emancipated and 
allowed to remain among the whites, the most menial of ser- 
vices, more degrading than farm labor, would be their employ- 
ment, and what is most to be feared is, they would not always 
get even enough of that to do. And if freed and put off to 
themselves, there would be danger of their gomg into bar- 
barism and decay. Contrast their condition with that of bond 
servants, where they have plenty of work to do, plenty to 
eat, drink and wear, are kindly treated, and in old age well 
cared for. 

ANOTHER c6mPARIS0N AND THE LAST. 

In conversation with emancipationists upon this subject, I 
have frequently been interrogated " how would you like to he 
a slave V I will answer this by the following : 

Suppose the Mayor of New York should propose to one 
of the merchant princes of that city to make him a police- 



85 

man. The person thus addressed would doubtless take it as 
an insult. But were he to propose to one of the Irish labo- 
rers of the city to make him a policeman, he would doubt- 
less accept the position gladly. The reason of the difference 
is obvious, because the employment which would be a deg- 
redation to the one, offers promotion and dignity to the 
other. In like manner. Slavery, to an individual of the An- 
glo-Saxon race, which occupies so high a' rank in human 
estimation, would be a debasement not to be thought of with 
patience for a moment. And yet to the Guinea negro sunk 
in heathen barbarism, it would be a happy change to place 
him in the hands of a kind Southern master. 

If men would reflect maturely on the subject, they would 
soon be convinced that liberty is a blessing to those, and 
only those, who are able to use it wisely. I will illustrate' 
this by the following : 

All waters are to a greater or less extent inhabited by 
fish. Even the waters of the mighty deep, although they 
are so salt that we can scarcely taste thereof, and much 
less support life therewith, are yet inhabited by im- 
mense multitudes of great and small fishes. Now, suppose 
we should conceive the idea, as fresh water is more agreeable 
to our taste, that the fish of the sea would also thrive better 
therein, and should transport some of them from thence to 
some fresh water course, what would be the consequence ? 
Why they would soon pine away and die. The sea is their 
natural element, and before removing them from thence it 
would be well for us to work upon them and change their 
natures, so as to make them conform to the new element, 
and if we fail to do this it would then be best for us to let 
them remain where they are. You will doubtless admit 
this. 

I will here compare the servants at the South to the 
fishes of the sea. Whether or not they occupy their 
natural position, certain it is that it is one in which they 



S6 

have prospered more than any other in which they have 
ever yet been placed. Therefore, before changing their 
social position, we should first change their nature so as 
to make them conform to the new element. We need not 
argue that they should first be placed in the new element as 
they are, and let them conform thereto, for this experiment has 
been tried over and over again — the results of which I pre- 
sume are generally known ; and if we now try the ex- 
periment again under similar circumstances, similar results 
will be apt to follow. Therefore, before placing them in this 
new element their nature should first be changed and made to 
conform thereto ; and if after a fair trial we fail to do this, I 
think you will admit that they had best remain as they are, 
after correcting the evils of servitude as much as possible. 

I know the word master sounds badly to a great many — 
even to myself. I am therefore for consulting the interest 
of servants exclusiv^ely in this matter, and am for continuing 
them in servitude or not, according as their interest require. 
If this is not doing as we would be done by, I should like 
to know what is. 

SOME MISCELLANEOUS AEGUMENTS — PROBABLE EFFECT OF 
EMANCIPATION. 

A few words to emancipationists and I will soon conclude 
this already very lengthy article. As sensible men I beg 
you to pause and reflect, and consider well what you are do- 
ing. Listen to the words of one who has at heart the best 
interest of these people, ere perhaps a nation may be invol- 
ved in irretrievable ruin. Have any of you proven that the 
negro would be better off emancipated than where he now 
is, under the protection of a good and kind man as a master. 
No, my friends, you have not done it ; you cannot do it. 
And unless you can prove from the Scriptures,"^ and from 

* If it could be clearly demonstrated that the condition of servants 
would be bettered by emancipation I believe it would be but little trouble 
to bring about general emancipation at the South. And it seems this 



37 

countries where emancipation has already taken place, that 
his condition would thereby be bettered, why do you wish 
to try the experiment on so large a scale ? Before striking 
to free more of these people I would advise you to do some- 
thing for those already freed and in your midst. It has al- 
ready been shown that crime among the free negroes of 
Massachusetts, the State where they enjoyed freedom longer 
than those of any other State, is over thirteen times as great 
as among her white inhabitants. So if you desire to do 
something for these people, here is a field open for you. I 
will endeavor to make this plainer by the following illus- 
tration : 

We will say that a master-workman gives an apprentice 
a job of work to do, and he instead of doing it well bungles 
over it in some way, or perhaps does a part of it wrong. He 
then applies to his master for more work. Does he give it 
to him ? No, he tells him to go and do well the work that 
he gave him before, and he would then give him more. 
Even so in this case. Before ycli desire more work, first do 
well what you have on hand and you shall then have more. 

Again : It is the belief of certain of your sect (emanci- 
pationists) that thorough abolition would tend to the exter- 
mination of the black race ; that they would vanish under 
it as did the Indians from the presence of the white man. I 
have heard these words with my own ears; so I cannot be 
mistaken in making the assertion. Is this your belief also ? 
If it is, I would advise you to desist. I don't believe God 
requires any such work at your hands. I don't believe He 
requires of you to sacrifice 1,000,000 human beings in order 
to place in the road for extermination 4,000,000 others. I 
positively do not envy the man his happiness that would ad- 
vocate emancipation with such a belief as this. 

should be the first step taken in the matter. So far as the people are con- 
cerned it is not so much the loss of their servants that causes them to op- 
pose emancipationists, for a great many would voluntarily give them up 
if they thought they would be bettered by the change. 



38 

The negro is as yet but a child in intellect. I there- 
fore think it should be our duty as Christian people to 
treat them kindly, and place them in whatever position they 
thrive best. I think the white race at least owes them that 
much ; for they were stolen from their homes in Africa and 
forced here against their will. Therefore, as we have plenty 
of room for them, and they can also occupy a useful position 
in society, why exterminate the poor creatures ? 

It is, though, to be presumed that the above is a mere ex- 
ception to the general rule, and that by far the larger por- 
tion of emancipationists inculcate their doctrine of univer- 
sal freedom purely through philanthropic motives. But 
they have read Uncle Tom's Cabin and played it in 
their theatres away up North, until, in my opinion, they 
have formed many erroneous ideas concerning this institu- 
tion. 

MR. helper's error. 

Again : If the owning of%ervants be such a monster of an 
evil, how is it that so few persons South, where they of all 
others have the best opportunities of seeing and judging for 
themselves, have been found to raise their voices against it ? 
We have, I presume, some as great philanthropists South 
8s can be found anywhere else, and if this had been such a 
crime as is frequently represented, it seems that some of 
these would have come out and spoke against it. It is true 
a few have done this, and prominent among them was Mr. 
Helper, of North Carolina. But it is to be presumed that 
to better the condition of these people was not the object he 
had in view ; as I have it from good authority that he hated 
negroes. The white man, then, seems to have been the 
object of his pseudo-philanthropy ! 

But suppose his object had been accomplished thoroughly — 
that all the servants had been emancipated — do you suppose 
the condition of the white man would have been bettered 



89 

thereby ? No ; never a whit, as long as the South continued 
to overtrade to the North. He would then have found that 
he had been striking upon the wrong string altogether. For 
even if the servants had been emancipated, our merchants 
would still have continued to trade North as long as they 
could buy goods a few cents cheaper ; and while this state 
of affairs continued how could manufactories have been built 
up at the South? For the Northern people having got their 
manufactories in successful operation, and having the chan- 
nel of trade turned thither, and also selling such quantities, 
and running but little or no risk to effect sales for lack of 
custom, could, under these circumstances, sell cheaper than the 
Southern people. It was, therefore, to the advantage of 
the Southern nierchant to trade North ; but it would, in the 
end, have been to the advantage of the people and com- 
munity at large to have had at least a portion of these goods 
manufactured and vended at the South, even if they had for 
the time being been some higher. For I hold if I buy 
your corn, cotton, flour, &c., that you could then afford to 
buy of me my manufactured articles. By reciprocal trade 
the prices on both sides would soon be properly regulated. 
Therefore, to have a universally happy and prosperous 
country, all sections must produce as many of the necessary 
articles of home consumption as possible. Having souje- 
what digressed from the subject I will now return to it again. 

WERE ALL MEN CREATED EQUAL? 

I expect to adduce a few arguments to prove that all men 
were not created or born equal, and that the negro is an in- 
ferior species of the human race. But, even taking it for 
granted that they were not created equal, and that the negro 
is an inferior race, I, by no means, consider this a justifiable 
excuse for reducing them to bondage to serve a superior 
race, provided their pleasures and enjoyments of life would 
thereby be ciirtailed. I think, in this case, they should be 



40 

looked upon with commiseration, and that it would be our 
duty as philanthropists to do something to elevate and better 
their condition, rather than to pounce upon them and sink 
them still lower in the scale of human existence, merely be- 
cause nature happened to do a little more for us than it did 
for them. My only plea then, for retaining these people a 
day longer in servitude, is that, under existing circumstan- 
ces, I don't think their condition would be bettered by 
changing their social position. I am for first applying 
to them the anointing oil of learning and Christianity ; and, 
whenever it shall have been clearly demonstrated that they 
are in a fit condition to take care of themselves, I am then 
for their going out free. 

But if, after exhausting these means, it should be dis- 
covered that they had not made proper advances in the sci- 
ences and civilization, we might then fairly infer that God 
never intended that they should be placed on a level with 
the Caucasian or white race. I will now point out some of 
the principal features wherein the white and black races 
differ : 

1st. They are born different anatomically considered. The 
white infant at birth has its brain enclosed by fifteen disuni- 
ted bony plates. The negro infant is born with a hard, 
smooth, round head, like a gourd. The head of the negro 
infant is also smaller than that of the white. 

2nd. The negro is a prognathos species of the human race, 
i. e. have receding foreheads. Prognathos is a technical 
term derived from loro, before, and gnathos, the jaws, indica- 
ting that the muzzle or mouth is anterior to the brain. 

I could multiply these differences to a much greater extent, 
but think I have mentioned enough to prove conclusively 
that they do differ anatomically considered, and this differ- 
ence too is of such a character as to indicate inferior intel- 
lectual endowments on the part of the black race. As a 
farther evidence of this, they thrive better in a state of ser- 



41 

vitude than in any other position in which they have ever 
yet been placed. Where the fetters of the white man have 
been broken they have, generally speaking, appreciated their 
liberties, and made advances in the arts, sciences, civiliza- 
tion and literature. But where the fetters of the black man 
have been broken they have, generally speaking, (I wisli I 
could say otherwise,) made a retrograde movement, and 
started back for savagism, barbarism and mental decay. 

Again. It appears singular that the words of Mr. Jeffer- 
son in the Declaration of Independence, " That all men were 
created equal," should be made to date back and apply as an 
interpretation of the Scriptures written by inspiration thou- 
sands and thousands of years before. No such doctrine is 
inculcated in the Scriptures, and it cannot be found within the 
lids of theBible that all men were created equal, such an idea 
being wholly of human origin. 

In conclusion I would say, as certain emancipationists and 
philanthropists will probabty differ with me in the views 
herein set forth, that I have written what I have solely as a duty, 
I think, I owe to my God, my country and my countrjanen. 
And, as regards the colored people, I presume there is no 
person, neither North nor South, who has their interest at 
heart more than I ; I sincerely wish them well. Therefore, 
before condemning what I have written relative thereto, I 
hope you will give the subject your careful consideration, 
and, if we still differ, let us differ honestly, and appeal to a 
decision of the people at the hallot box to say who is in the 
right. 

THE TEKRITOEIAL QUESTION. 

As the agitation of the slavery question, in connection 
with the territorial question, has had much to do in produ- 
cing our present unhappy state of affairs, I deem it expedi- 
ent to make a few remarks relative thereto. 

The institution of slavery at the South was safe, and pro- 



42 

tected in tlie States where it existed ; and already the South- 
ern people had more than twice as much land per head as 
the I^orthern people, as I will show before I get through. 
And more than this, the Missouri compromise line would 
have given them far more than their just proportion of the 
Territories, for rightly apportioned there was only about 
one-fifth part of the Territories coming to the Southern peo- 
ple. But, not satisfied with this, thinking that Cotton was 
King, their politicians thougiit they could sway things as 
they pleased. (I presume they will find by the time these 
sectional troubles are ended that Cotton is not King.) So, 
by their machinations and thirst after power and revolution, 
they managed to bring about a repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise, with the ostensible purpose of carrying slavery into 
the Territories whithersoever they desired, thinking, it 
seems, that they had a right to do as they pleased in this 
matter, without consulting the non-slaveholders of the North 
and the South. 

In order to make this plainer I have made some calcula- 
tions thereon, which are herewith submitted. 

The population of the North" in 1860 was 18,834,956.— 
The population of the South was 12,254,849. The area of 
the Northern States embraces 612,597 square miles — 392,- 
062,080 acres. This divided by 18,834,956 will give a little 
over 20f acres to each person at the North. 

The area of the Southern States embraces 851,508 square 
miles— 554,965,120 acres. This divided by 12,254,849 will 
give a little over 44J acres to each person at the South. So, 
before dividing the Territories, I think the North should 
nave been made equal, or have had 23J- acres thrown into 
each inhabitant, so as to make her count 44J acres to each 
person ; then have divided the remainder according to ra- 
tio of population. Let us see how this calculation will 
figure. 18,834,956 multiplied by 23i will give 442,621,466 
acres, equal to 691,596 square miles, that must first be as- 



43 

signed the ISTortli before the South should receive any more 
territory. This amount taken from 1,492,061 square miles, 
the amount now embraced in the Territories, will leave 800, 
465 square miles to be divided between the North and the 
South. This would be in the proportion of about IJ to the 
North and 1 to the South. Divided though accurately it 
would give 31-5,523 square miles to the South and 484,942 
to the North ; or, summing up the whole according to the 
plan already mentioned, the North would receive of the 
Territories 1,176,538 square miles ; the South 315,523 square 
miles. These lands divided in this way would give to each 
person North and South, with what they now have, about 
60f acres. I will endeavor to make this some plainer. 

The whole area of the Territories divided into States 
would make thirty of about the size of North Carolina. Of 
these the South would receive a little over six ; the North 
the remainder. There would then be to each man, woman, 
and child, North and South, black and white, about 60f 
acres of land as aforesaid. Therefore I think such a divi- 
sion would have been fair and just to both sections. 

The people of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland 
have on an average a little less than three acres of land each. 
Those of Belgium, which I believe is the most densely pop- 
ulated country on the globe, have a little less than two. 
Were the United States settled as thickly as England, 
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, instead of a population of 31,- 
000,000, we would have one of over 662,000,000 ; and were 
they settled as thickly as Belgium we would have a popu- 
lation of over 957,000,000. From these figures you may see 
that we had only made a beginning towards developing our 
vast resources. 

In order that I may not be misunderstood I will remark 
that I am not for giving the North the amount of land men- 
tioned in order to make her count numerically equal with 
the South, but let them be divided according to the plan al- 



44 

readj given, and let the people of eacli section pay into the 
Treasury the market value thereof as they are taken up. 

I will further state that the 315,523 square miles falling 
to the South should be subdivided into slave and free terri- 
tory after the following plan: Let the people at the South 
all vote and represent their respective families whether they 
would have their portion of these Territories slave or free. 
Thus, if a man have a wife and ten children let his vote 
count numerically twelve. If he have a wife, ten children, 
and twenty servants, let his vote count numerically thirty- 
two. Thus the business would be so arranged that by all 
the people voting the number of votes cast would be equal 
to the whole number of people at the South, bond and free, 
(12,254,849.) I am aware that many people at the South 
would vote for free territory, and I think they have as good 
a right so to vote as the slaveholders have to vote for slave 
territory, and thus scatter slavery over Qvery foot of South- 
ern soil. I think it is of no advantage neither to the ser- 
vants nor their owners to scatter them over such a large ex- 
panse of country, but rather the reverse. 

If the slaveholders were allowed to represent their ser- 
vants numerically, they ought to be satisfied therewith, and 
I think they would be. The portion of the Territories that 
would thus fall to the South w^ould average a little over six- 
teen acres to each individual ; and I think the non-slave- 
holder should have the same right to say that his portion 
shall be free territory that the slaveholder has to say that 
his portion shall be slave territory. I not only think this 
plan fair and just, but that it should have been inaugurated 
sooner, even soon after the admission of Texas, and let that 
State have been divided into slave and free territory, had 
the people of the South seen fit to do so. I think in this 
division the black race should be represented to their full 
numerical value; for, tliough they are black, it takes as 
much land to support a black man as it does a white man, 



45 

and I therefore think they should receive their full distribu- 
tive share thereof. 

I think the territorial and slavery questions should be 
settled, and settled permanently. Have no more voting 
npon them. At these elections, when a State is to be ad- • 
mitted into the Union, with or without slavery, as the case 
may be, there is always too much excitement at them, too 
apt to be blood spilt ; and the excitement thus got up ex- 
tends throughout both sections, and it is not to be wondered 
at that much trouble should have grown out thereof. There- 
fore, let this danger be avoided in the future by settling these 
questions faiidy, permanently, and forever. Had the South- 
ern people struck for a compromise upon some such terms 
as the foregoing, I have not a doubt but the business might 
have been settled fairly and permanently. But, instead of 
doing this, they have come out under the protection of State 
laws, and have assailed the best government the world ever 
saw. Our Government, though good, had some defects in 
it ; but it should have been our duty to remedy these de- 
fects, and not have disrupted the Union for trivial causes, 
and in place of the lesser evils have brought on others infi- 
nitely greater. 

Let the interest of servants be which way it may, if tlie 
rebels of the South persist long enough in this wicked, un- 
holy, and uncalled-for war, slavery will certainly be wiped 
out as a consequence of the war, if nothing else. So, let 
what will become of slavery, in the language of the patriotic 
Jackson, " The Union must and shall be preserved." 

WHY THE EEBELLION HAS NOT BEEN SUPPRESSED SOONER. 

It has doubtless been looked upon with wonder and aston- 
ishment by the Northern people, as well as Unionists South, 
how the Southern people, under such great disadvantages, 
have been able to hold out so long. The population of the 
Northern States exceeds that of the Southern more than two 



46 

to one if we except tbe servants of the latter. And besides 
this the States of Delaware, Maryland, A^irginia, Kentucky, 
Missouri Tenuesee and Arkansas, have sent, I believe, 
111 regiments of soldiers to the field to fight against 
the rebellion. In addition to this the North have a large 
and powerful fleet, and the Southern people as good as none. 
There is also an extensive Union sentiment in the States of 
North Carolina,^ Greorgia and Alabama, which has troubled 

* In order to give some idea of tlie Union sentiment in my section I will 
give the vote of two counties, Randolpli and Moore, (the former being my 
native county, but I subsequently removed to tlie latter,^ tliat was cast 
for and against the Convention, on the 28th day of February, 1861. 

Randolph, out of a vote of 2,600 cast for the Convention only 24 ; Moore, 
cut of 1,300 cast for the Convention 68: Adding these together and ma- 
king an average, we find that secession was voted down in the two coun- 
ties by more than 40 to 1. I quote from memory and may, perhaps, have 
underrated the Union vote a little, but think I quote the secesh vote accu- 
rately. So it is to be wondered at how this large Union element could 
ever be made subservient to the secesh authorities. But when the law 
gets against the people they can't do much. For an organized force can 
swallow up and make subservient one unorganized many times larger. 
But the masses of the people still remain the same. For they look upon 
it that the causes were not justifiable for secession, and much less for this 
wicked war ; and, if wrong in the beginning, that fighting can never make 
it right, though there be ever so much blood spilt. The masses of the 
people love the old Grovernment, and gladly would they return to their 
former allegiance if they had it in their power. Not but the Union forces 
were right in attacking the rebs, for what else could they do when the 
United States flag had been fired upon and outraged at three different times 
before a shot was returned, and this, rather than secession, may be con- 
sidered as the cause of the war. But still if President Lincoln had resorted 
to a little strategy, as follows, it is thought he would have killed secession 
as dead as a hammer without firing a gun, and that is, let him soon after 
his inauguration have issued a proclamation to the Southern people in 
effect as follows : 

To the Governors and people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia^ 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabarna, ^lisaissippi, Louisi- 
ana, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucki/, Missouri, and Arkansas : 
My countrymen: It is with regret that I see a cloud gathering, which, 

if not arrested, may soon culminate, break over our heads, and disperse 



47 

the Confederate authorities much in the prosecution of the 
war. So, when we take all these things into consideration, 
it is much to be wondered at how the rebels have been ena- 
bled to hold ont so long. This can only be accounted for 
in one way. The Federal array attacking and failing to 
carry their point at some of the rebel strong holds, instead 
of attacking them at some of the weaker and more vulnera- 
ble places, where important victories could easily have been 
gained and at, comparatively speaking, but little loss, to- 
all our prosperity of former days. I have been elected as President 
of the people, and it is my determination to serve you as such ; desirinj; 
to treat you as near like Washington, Jefferson, and Madison didj-^s I 
can, I shall therefore know no North, no South, no East, no West. I will 
also state that I have no desire nor intention of interfering with any of 
your local institutions whatever. Therefore, as one whose bosom beats 
with a fervent desire for the welfare of my country and countrymen, I do 
■declare emphatically that there shall be xo blood spilt during my admin- 
istration, if I can help it. But, believing that you have in seceding acted 
more through fear of apprehended dangers than from any other cause, I 
have, in order that I may dispel this fear, clearly and explicitly set forth 
my views, which are likewise the views of my party that elected me to 
■office, and now, desiring the opinion of the Southern people in reference 
thereto, I do hereby issue this my proclamation, desiring that the legal 
voters of all the aforesaid States ("for you are all interested alike^ shall 

assemble at their respective places of holding elections, on the day 

of next, and cast their votes whether or not they wish to secede for 

existing causes. 

In order that this may be made more effective, I enjoin upon the Gover- 
nors of the aforesaid States to issue their proclamations, ordering the con- 
vening of the people of their respective States, on the day and for the purposes 
above specified. Should any of the States vote by a majority to secede, I 
could not of myself give them up, but would shortly convene Congress t(y 
consider the matter. 

If the President had issued a proclamation to the effect of the above, 
secession would, in my opinion, have been killed so dead that it would 
scarcely have been known to have had any existence. For, in my opinion, 
there is not a State at the South in which the ordinance would not have 
been killed, could the people have voted fairly upon it, and, in the most of 
the States by overwhelming majorities. And in case the Governors of some 
of the States that had already seceded had not seen lit to submit this 



48 

gether \vith the dissentions among the Northern people, 
have, in my opinion, tended more to prolong the war than 
any other two causes. 

I will give an illustration of this. A few days before the 
seven day's fight before Richmond took place, I was in Wil- 
mington, N. C, and heard the citizens of that place say, that 
for the Federals to take that city they had but to come after 
it. At that time the Southern people had such a perfect 
horror of a gunboat that I don't suppose there would have 

ordinance to a popular vote of the people, there would have been sueh 
opposition gotten uji thereto on the part of the people, that it would have 
been a dead-go anyvrav. Therefore, even in this sense of the word, the 
rebellion could never have gained much headway. For, even if the seces- 
sionists had tried to do anything, the words of the President would have come 
up before them, and they would soon have cowered down into insignifi- 
cance. That strategy would have had a good effect, I will illustrate by 
the following : 

We are informed that the historian Josephus upon a certain occasion 
condemned a criminal to have both his hands cut off. At this he began 
to bemoan, and besought Jos-ephus that he would at least spare him ©ne 
of his hands, to which he assented. The criminal then submitted for one 
to be taken off with but little regret. But it was a ruse on the 
part of Josephus, to get it willingly, he not intending to take but one at 
the start. 

Strategy here was of benefit, and a little on the part of the President, it 
is thought, would have averted these evils from the country ; or, at all 
events, would have shortened the war much if we had had one. 

But after coercion was attempted on the part of the General Government, 
the secessionists used all manner of devices to increase their army, saying 
"The Yanks are going to take your lands and homes to pay the expenses 
of the war; they will also free the negroes, and have them in your midst, 
walking with and intermarrying your daughters," and all such like. So 
the harder they were pressed upon the more force they could bring out. 
This may be likened unto a bridge that Julius Csesar built, upon a certain 
occasion. It. was so constructed that the harder thft waters pressed against 
it so much the more firmly Trere the timbers bound together. Even so 
with the rebellion. Under milder treatment, it is thought the fabric 
would have dissolved, and floated down the current of time long ago, or 
rather, could never have been built uj). 

In view also of the large Union sentiment in many sections at the South, 



49 

been a gun fired, or at least that was the talk of the citizens 
of the place. Therefore, if the Union forces had only made 
a feint upon Eichmond and had gone round and have taken 
Wilmington and other vulnerable places, how much they 
would have been worth to the Union cause ! If Wilmino-. 

CD 

ton had been taken at that time North Carolina would have 
been compelled to come back into the Union ere this, be- 
cause she could not possibly have supplied her citizens with 



the tiling should be viewed with as much allowance as possible. The 
woods or the army was the alternative ; and a man, unless he have con* 
siderable means, can't exist in the woods two years. If Governor Brown, 
of Georgia, had not made that mistake when he refused to let his militia 
officers go in the army, by which means a regularly organized force was left 
behind to hunt down and harrass poor conscripts and deserters, the rebel- 
lion would, in my opinion, have been played out long ago. I will 
take occasion to say here, that had the people of my section been near 
enough the Union forces to join them, that there would to-day be far more 
of them fighting under the stars and strip^^s than there are under the rebel 
flag. J will also state that I believe, if the Union forces would now hold off a 
little and not make any more advances at present, and hold out the olive 
branch of peace, that time, through the depreciation of their currency 
South, and enormously high prices of provisions, would effect a reunion 
as soon, if not sooner, than more forcible measures. For it is evident 
that the North cannot conquer and overrun the whole South ; and I think 
they now have in their possession as much as they can hold to advantage. 
And if they would now fortify these points, hold their own, and not be in 
too big a hurry, and be satisfied to give a little time, I think peace and 
reunion would soon be the consequence. The reason that I speak thus is 
because I know the sentiments of many of the Southern people, and know 
that they desire peace and reunion, and without any farther shedding of 
blood. Therefore, all that is wanting is for the Anaconda that has been 
placed about their necks to be loosed, and let them speak out— and time, 
I think, would do this more effectually than more forcible means. For 
when you attack them, this immense serpent draws his coils more closely 
around them, and thus presses more men into the service. But if suffered 
to remain inactive awhile, he would unloose his coils, and thus to a certain 
extent release the people. You could then get more aid from Unionists 
South. Therefore 

All you that by hard fighting would excel. 
How much you fight regard not, but how well. 

4 



50 

salt. Large quantities of this were marfafactured in and 
around Wilmington, wliicli sold at from forty to fifty cents 
per pound, and was scarcely to be had at that in sufficient 
quantities to supply the wants of the people. Therefore, if 
"Wilmington had fallen, North Carolina would soon have 
fallen also, and one star plucked from the Confederacy the 
remaining States would soon have followed. And the beauty 
of the thing is that all of this might have been accomplished 
with but little or no loss of life. 

The failure of the Union forces to take Richmond at that 
time was probably owing as much to their having undertaken 
an impossibility under existing circumstances, as to any- 
thing else ; for the whole Southern Confederacy was there, 
so to speak. Already there were a great many troops at 
Richmond, but for several days before the battle every train 
by Raleigh and Wilmington was loaded down to the full 
with soldiers " for Richmond." Therefore, if there had been 
a little strategy used at this time the rebellion would, in my 
opinion, have been played out long ago, and at a great sav- 
ing of life also. 

It is also thought by some that the emancipation policy 
has had a bad, rather than a good, effect, and that, if it's far- 
ther enforcement was withheld, say for ninety days, so as to 
give the rebs one more chance, and would then call for vol- 
unteers, that the road leading to a restoration of the Union 
would be as plain as the road to market. I will remark that 
so far as I am concerned, I would be for the emancipation 
policy if I thought the Union would thereby be restored 
sooner, and -at a saving of life and treasure. In fact, I am 
for any just and honorable means leading to this end, and 
am, therefore, for using the negroes in any way that they can 
aid in putting down the rebellion, by which their condition 
would not be permanently worsted. And that they can 
aid materially in this business, even without going into the 
army, there is no doubt. It is, therefore, evident, if the 



51 

South have to be brought back by force of arms alone, that 
the emancipation policy would have been the thing, provided 
the North had hung together on this question. But, taking 
that into consideration, together with the extensive Union 
sentiment in many portions of the South, it is thought some 
milder means would probably have done as well. 

It is also thought that a reunion, to be worth anything, 
must be based upon the will of the people governed, and 
that, therefore, to have a good and permanent Government 
the extremists North and South must yield, and let the ques- 
tion at issue be decided by a popular vote of the people. 

EEV. DE. MASSIE, OF ENGLAND, VISITS THE UNITED STATES. 

I think it was in June, of the present year, that the Rev. 
Dr. Massie, of England, visited the United States. He 
brought with him a petition signed by some seven hundred 
and fifty Protestant Ministers of France, and some five thou- 
sand of those of England, for the purpose of furthering the 
emancipation policy, which he presented to the President 
and Cabinet. If these gentlemen could ^o anything calcu- 
lated to restore peace and quietude to our bleeding country, 
most happy would we be for them to do so. But anything 
that is calculated to embitter the feelings, prolong the strug- 
gle, and thus make the breach between the two sections 
greater, we do not desire to see. We, therefore, think that 
when the services of these Reverend gentlemen are needed 
to interpose in our political affairs they should be notified 
thereof. 

THE REBELLION WANING. 

It is to be presumed that the Administration have resorted 
to no means for the prosecution of this unnatural and un- 
called-for war on the part of the rebs, only such as was 
thought would be instramental in restoring the Union and 
at a saving of life and treasure. Therefore, if any of these 
measures have turned out to be impolitic, we should take it 



into consideration that tliis could not be known until they 
had been tried. 

The rebels have tried certain impolitic measures, and 
prominent among them was the law exempting the owner of, 
or person having in charge, twenty negroes. This was about 
to work a considerable disturbance in placing a distinction 
between the slave and non-slave holder. Their legislators 
seeing this, wisely for the cause of the rebellion, repealed the 
ordinance before any serious disturbance had grown out 
thereof. 

But be the emancipation ordinance and certain military 
changes that have been made, politic or impolitic measures, 
I think we have now got to where we can see through the 
rebellion. Therefore, if we will pull together, pull steadily, 
and hold out faithful a little while longer, the stars and 
stripes will, as I believe, soon wave triumphantly throughout 
the entire length and breadth of the land. 

WE MUST KEEP UNITED. 

But in order to attain to this great desideratum it is expe- 
dient that we keep united at this the most important period in 
our national existence, or we may yet, perhaps, through the 
dissensions and divisions of the people, lose the prime object 
for which the Union forces set out, after havins; borne the 
burden and heat of the day. Then all the fighting that has 
been done, and the much blood that has been spilt on the 
part of the Union forces, will all have been spilt in vain. — 
The stars and stripes, the flag of the nation, would go down 
with dishonor and disgrace, and another be built upon the 
ruins thereof. Shall we thus, through dissensions, be com- 
pelled to acknowledge the independence of the South, and 
thus, in effect, acknowledge that they were right in seceding 
when the causes were not justifiable ? Acknowledge that 
they were right in firing upon and capturing Fort Sumpter, 
when it might have been honorably avoided ? Acknowledge 



that they were right in inaugurating this cruel civil war, in 
which seas of bbocl have been poured out and billions of 
treasure expended ? Acknowledge that those who have had 
treasonable intents against the General Government for the 
last thirty or forty yeai s, were right at length in putting 
them forth ? Acknowledge all these things, and, above all, 
permit those secessionists to build up a government based 
upon usurped power and against the will of a majority of 
the people at the South ? Xo ! never, never ! Never will 
I, for one, as long as breath animates my body and while 
there is even a remote chance for success, agree to this. 

If we woidd not have all these evils, and even greater, to 
come upon us, we must keep united. Justice to libertv, our 
country and our God demand that we keep united. Justice 
to the gallant dead who liave fallen in defence of the stars 
and stripes, and who now lay mouldering in the clay, demand 
that we keep united. Justice to the many loyal people 
South, who have held out amidst various trials and persecu- 
tions, and who still hold out with the hope, in the end, of 
seeing the stars and stripes wave triumphantl^y over them, 
demand that we keep united. We must keep united or all 
may yet be lost, irretrievably lost. 

The Southern people are principally building their hopes 
of success upon the prospect of these dissensions and a con- 
sequent revolution among the Nopthern people. This I 
know. Therefore, if the people would now exhaust this 
source of aid and comfort by becoming united, the rebellion 
would, and, as I believe, with but very little more shedding 
of blood, vanish like a bank of snow before a summer's sun. 

We will take it for granted that the stcUus or standing of 
the General Government towards the seceded States has only 
been changed in such things as they were driven to by the 
acts of the secessionists. This is but fulfilling the Scriptures 
where it says " one evil word calleth for another." We will, 
therefore, take it for granted, as soon as the rebellion shall 



5-i " 

liave been conquered, that the former status or standing of 
the General Government will be resumed, unless a majority 
of the people should say otherwise. Therefore, it would be 
better for us to yield our private opinions for the present; 
than to cleave thereto and thereby endanger tlie Union cause. 
For we should recollect, in proportion as we divide and relax 
our energies North, that in just this same proportion do we 
give aid and comfort to the rebellion South. We should, there- 
fore, know no party at this most important crisis, " save the 
Union and it saved." This sentiment should rise paramount to 
every party consideration. We should, therefore, be willing 
to leave these questions of minor importance for the people 
to decide hereafter, as they would, doubtless, decide them 
right. Therefore, keep united, press forward, don't give up 
the ship, and when it gets too hot for our Southern brethren 
let them come back into the Union where they ought to be, 
and from which, in my opinion, they ought never to have 
gone. And, having gone without a cause, they may at last 
blam.e themselves most for the many privations, hardships 
and safierings they now endure. And should slavery event- 
ually suffer, they may also blame themselves most for that; 
for they were warned and told in time that secession would 
ia all probability lead to the emancipation of their servants- 

TO MY SOUTHERN' COUNTRYMEN'. 

The following is, in the main, intended for my Southern 
brethren, should it by chance fall into their hands : 

My Dear Friends: — What have your politicians and 
the secessionists promised you ? They promised you that 
it should be peaceable secession. Some in their speeches 
asserted that they would pay the cost of the war for 
ten cents ; others that they would wipe up all the blood 
that would be spilt with a pocket handkerchief; and others 
still more generous, said they would agree to drink all the 
blood that would be spilt. To be short, they by making 



oo 



such speeches as the above, managed to deceive many of 
yon, and to get yon to volunteer, telling you that we must 
present a formidable front, and thus back out the North. 
Whether or not, these persons were conscientious in makino- 
these statements, I am unable to say, but if they were cer- 
tain, it is, that it has turned out, that they were greatly mis- 
taken. After getting a goodly number of you to volunteer, 
they soon got the war started, and after getting that started, 
they soon devised means for forcing the remainder of you 
into the army. They did this first by the draft, and then 
subsequently and more completely by the unjust conscrip- 
tion. Even those of you, who had been bitterly opposed to 
secession and its fruits from the start, and whom they had 
denied the just rights of freemen in not permitting you to 
vote directly upon this all-important subject, they now, by 
their unjust legislation, compelled to take up arms, and 
go forth and fight the battles of the war that they had them- 
selves inaugurated, sometimes even hunting you down, 
casting you in prison, and sending you forth in irons to 
shed your blood upon some cruel battlefield. Was it jus- 
tice, that you as peaceable citizens should thus have been 
hunted down, torn from your innocent and dependent fami- 
lies, and compelled to go forth and enact scenes that were 
revolting to your feelings, revolting to Christianity, and re- 
volting to civilization? Was it justice that our politicians 
largely in the minority, should thus of their own arbitrary 
power legislate away, as it were, your lives, and thereby 
create desolation, ruin and mourning throughout the entire 
length and breadth of the land ? It undoubtedly was not 
justice, and to sum up the whole in a few words, was in my 
opinion, a grand usurpation of power, and ought not to have 
been submitted to for a moment. 

I think in all republican governments, a majority of the 
people should rule, and particularly upon these all-impor- 
tant questions like the present, which has involved us in so 



56 

much trouble and distress. Therefore, as our politicians 
thought proper to bring on this war without consulting you, 
I now think it would be fair and just for you to end the 
war without consulting them by deserting and fleeing from 
them, and leaving those secessionists to fight their own bat- 
tles if they want any fought. Yea, I think your outraged 
rights demand that you should speedily desert and flee from 
them like rats from a sinking ship, and let the structure 
founder, and go down with the secesh only on board 
should they choose to hold on, and the next time they 
wish to secede, let them consult the masses of the people. 

A FEW WOEDS IX MY OWX DEFENCE. 

I have by these sectional troubles been compelled to take 
one of three positions, which were: first to take sides with 
m J Southern brethren in the rebellion ; second, espouse the 
Union cause ; and third, remain neutral, which I could easily 
have done after getting rid of the conscription. 

But I could not take sides with my Southern brethren in 
the rebellion, from the fact, that I did not think the causes 
justified secession. And when so many of my fellow men 
were fast passing from time to eternity, feeling that I had a 
duty to perform, I could not content myself to remain neu- 
tral. Therefore, believing that my Southern brethren acted 
with too much haste, first, in seceeding, and then inaugur- 
ating this wicked war ; and, also, believing that the only 
safe and permanent way of settling our difficulties, is by a 
restoration of the Union, I have considered it my impera- 
tive duty to espouse the Union cause, and vindicate its prin- 
ciples through weal and through woe. 

But I have thus been placed in a very uncomfortable 
situation, for I have kindred, persons that are near and dear 
to me by the ties of nature in the Southern army, and oh ! 
shall they go down, or shall I once more, in peace, be per- 
mitted to behold their happy faces ? This is a subject that 
draws like chords around my heart, and nothing but a con- 



57 

scientious belief, that I was in the discharge of my duty 
would have prompted me to have taken the stand that I 
have. Yea, before I would have done anything in this mat- 
ter that I conceived would be against the best interest of my 
Southern brethren, and country generally, I would have 
suffered the last drop of blood that is within my veins to 
run cold. But it being a matter of so Yery great impor- 
tance, one in which the very life of our country, as well as 
the destinies of probably many future generations is involv- 
ed, I considered it my imperative duty to espouse the 
Union cause, and stand by it, live or die, sink or swim. I 
have accordingly done this at much expense and great risk. 
At length for issuing and circulating certain publications, 
I was twice arrested and imprisoned, and being in danger 
of a third arrest for a similar offense, thinking it might not 
go so well with me, as I had been told I would be tried for 
treason if arrested any more, I deemed it expedient to evade 
this by crossing the line, and did so. I am though glad to 
see that free speech is once more becoming dominant in my 
native State. Old North Carolina will soon take her posi- 
tion once more under the stars and stripes, and one star 
plncked from the Confederacy, the remaining States would 
soon follow. 

PLAN" FOE EESTOKING THE UNION. 

Before closing, I wish to give a plan by which I think the 
Union can be restored, and at comparatively little loss of 
life. I have endeavored to show that there is an extensive 
Union sentiment existing in various portions of the South. 
Measures that would now increase this sentiment would, in 
my opinion, be the plan. And, in my opinion, the best way for 
doing this would be to give them evidence that a strong con- 
servative feeling exists North. And the best way to 
test this would be to submit the following resolution to 
the legal voters of all the free States, and let them vote 
thereon, for or against as they see proper ; to wit : 

*'That this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of 



68 

oppression, or for the piarpose of overthrowing or interfering 
with the rights and established institutions of the States, but 
to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, 
and to preserve the JnioH with all the dignity, equality^ 
and rights of the several States unimpaired, and that as 
soon as these objects are accomplished the Vv^ar ought to 
cease," 

If the above were submitted to the Northern people, and 
an extensive Union sentiment should thereby be shown 
forth, I believe it would have more effect in restoring peace 
and a reunion than all the gunpowder in the United States. 
And if thus restored by conciliatory measures, the work 
would then be completed. W^ could then join together and 
journey on once more happily and prosperously together. 
But if restored solely by force of arms, conciliatory measures 
would at last have to be resorted to ; for, as has already 
been said, " A reunion, to be worth anything, must be based 
upon the will of the people governed." I therefore think 
the Union could be restored sooner, and at a greater saving 
of human life, by this plan, than by any other known to 
me. Or it might be so arranged as to have a proposition 
submitted to the Southern people also ; and that is, let the 
two Governments b}^ mutual agreement come to the under- 
standing that, if the proposition already mentioned were 
submitted to the people of the Northern States, and should 
be carried favorably, that the Confederate authorities should 
then submit to the Southern people the question whether or 
not they would accept a reunion upon this basis. If we 
could thus get this question out of the hands of the politi- 
cians into those of the people, I think they would soon 
decide it, and decide it right. 

It is also thought, as the Federal Government is vastly 
superior in strength and power, that the Administration 
could, without endangering the cause in the least, either 
submit or receive proposals leading to peace and conciliation. 

I have so much confidence in the tU^ove plan that if it 



69 

could be inaugurated I would be willing to risk my all, even 
my life, that it would result in a restoration of the Union. 
But if force of arms alone be resorted to, the longer our 
sectional troubles remain unsettled the more new difficulties 
will spring up, and the harder it will be in the end to recon- 
cile them. We need not expect to settle our difficulties, 
and particularly by force of arms, in such a way as to be 
satisfied immediately at the result ; for, let us settle them as 
we may, it will take time, and a great deal of it at that, to 
effectually heal the awful breach that has been made. Many 
times, if we would do what is best, we must do things that 
we do not wish to do. So of this all-important subject, now 
before us. Let us consult our interest rather than our feelini^s, 
for it is a subject in which is involved the destinies of pro- 
bably many future generations ; and if such a subject as this 
will not justify our yielding in some of our mere personal 
feelings, I should like to know one that would. So before 
tearing up and consigning to utter desolation and ruin this 
once fair portion of the earth, let us make one mighty effort 
to restore peace and quietude to our now disaffected country 
by conciliatory measures. But if in the end mild words 
and gentle means luould not reclaim the wicked, they must then 
he dealt with in a more severe manner. 
coxcr.usiON". 
I have endeavored to give my views impartially upon 
this all-important subject, and we now come to take our last 
view of the matter. But, before doing so, I would desire to 
urge upon you, my countrymen, the vast importance of the 
struggle in which we are now engaged. The destinies of un- 
born generations are depending upon the issue. We should 
therefore rise up in our might, and declare that the Union 
must and shall be preserved. Had our forefathers been 
here, do you suppose they would have disrupted the Union 
for the causes that existed at the commencement of our sec- 
tional troubles ? No ; never, never. A voice from our 
gallant dead, who had fallen in the achievement of our liber- 



60 

ties, and wlio now lay mouldering in a common grave, 
would have come up before tliem, saying, " Down with 
your schisms and divisions. It was not for this that we 
fought, bled, and died. Keep united, and you will be a 
great, happy, and prosperous people." 

Therefore, the difficulties between the North and the 
South should not be viewed as existing between foreign 
enemies, but between people that should be towards each 
other as brothers, both sides of which have erred and gone 
aside from the path of duty. If each side would now do away 
with these wrongs, and let the two sections be united upon 
just and honorable terms, will, I think, in the end, be for 
the best. 

Shall the Monarchal Powers of Europe point to our coun- 
try as an example and say, that man is incapable of self- 
government ? I hope not. Let us then join together as 
erring brothers, and yet solve the problem '' that man is 
capable of self-government." What do you think the Father 
of his country would say were he now back to take a view 
of his once beloved country? ''United we stand : divided 
we fall," would probabl}^ be his words. 

We were making onward and upward strides, and the 
United States, but for these sectional troubles were destined 
soon to have taken the front' rank among the nations of the 
globe. But oh ! where are we now ? I answer in the broad 
road that leads to ruin, speeding our way thither, as fast as 
the wheels of time impelled forward by the rage of an infu- 
riated people, can bid us fly. 

Oh ! that those that were principally in fault, in bring- 
ing on our sectional troubles, may soon be brought to see their 
error, and that their course may be changed before it be 
everlasting too late ; that the dark cloud which has lowered 
over us as a nation and people, may soon break away ; and 
that peace, ah ! blessed peace, may beam forth upon us ; 
and that we may ere long be a united, contented, and happy 
people, is the sincere desire of one who has at heart the 
interest of both sections of the country. 



IN 
TliE SOXJOTHIEI^lSr STA.TES, 

EELIGIOUSLY AND MORALLY COXSIDERED 

Is now ready for distribution, and will be sent, free of postage, to any 
part of the United States on the receipt of twenty-five cents. 

Persons desiring this work for gratuitous distribution will be supplied 
at the rate of six copies for $1, and the postage prepaid to any part of the 
United States. 

All orders should be addressed to 

BRYAN TYSON, 

Box 6|, Washington, D. C. 



I^C^-^TV I3?a- 3F"m3SS 



''A mA¥ 0¥ M^'mww: 



OR, 



EELIGIOUSLY AND MORALLY CONSIDERED, 



The alx)ve is the title of a Book published in Raleigh, North Carolina, 
above one year ago. 

This work is founded upon religious principles. The author having, in 
a profession of religion, above fifteen years ago, experienced some things 
that he thought pertainel to these sectional troubles, has written them 
out with the hope that they may be of benefit to his country and country- 
men. The work, revised and enlarged, will contain some three hundred 
pages, and will be ready to mail about the first of November. On the re- 
ceipt of $1 it will be sent, free of postage, to any part of the United States. 

Send your orders early to 

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Box 6^, Washington, D. C. 



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